Well, there’s not much to report, really. My writing diary is, for the first time in a while, entirely empty of specific jobs, so I can write pretty much what I want. I didn’t take my laptop on holiday (I normally write on the laptop, because it’s quicker) but I did have a notebook and pen with me so I wrote a new story sitting in the Moraira sun – I went away with three stories in my head, and wrote the one that presented itself most forcefully, about a self help group whose members are really struggling with their identity. Even longhand, the story shelled out nice and easy, and although there’s some sections that still need work, I’m confident it’ll be a good little tale when it’s done I just need to type it up now… The last story I wrote completely longhand was The Church on the Island, so I have pedigree here ha ha ha!

One thing that did happen on holiday was that another story presented itself to me, and as is traditional for me, it started out as a joke. We had a series of strange incidents on holiday with fruit and vegetable appearing in the villa pool (this is true: we had a tomato, a courgette, a lemon and three large green peppers appear in the water during the course of the week, probably thrown in by the children in the adjoining villa as a kind of weird joke), and my wife, parents and sister all said at some point, Well I’m sure there’s a story in there, Simon! and everyone laughs…except me. Partly, it was the challenge – sort of, Well, you’re all joking but I wonder, can I write a story about fruit appearing in a pool that’s dark and not funny? Creepy not silly? Yes, I think so. And partly, I think it was because it’s such a strange thing to happen that I wanted to record it in some way. So, I came back with a kind of proto-idea bubbling in my brain, and worked out more details over the last week. What’s great is that other details have been swirling into place without me trying. For example, Helen Grant (excellent author and facebook friend) was messing about with redcurrants this week, so suddenly I have another fruit, and my main character has a name, and with the name comes a history (not Helen’s history, I hasten to add – I’ve nicked her name but not her whole life!). I started the story on Thursday, and I aim to have it done by the end of the week. I don’t have a place in mind for it, I’m just writing it for fun, and we’ll see how it turns out. More news as it happens.

One more thing: as you may know (I’ve banged on about it often enough!) Ghostwriter Publications publishes 2 chapbooks of mine, Button and Marley’s Haunting -a weird little thing about the perils of sticky buttons and a clasically inspired, vicious ghost story respectively. I have several copies of each available for sale direct from me, each one signed in lovely violet in by yours truly! They’re at the bargain price of £2.50 including postage – surely a dream purchase in anyone’s book! If you’re interested, contact me and we’ll sort out payment via paypal or cheque and delivery.

Quick request – anyone good at designing websites? I finally got round to buying the rights to www.simonkurtunsworth.com, but I haven’t got the first clue about building the site, etc. Anyone got any ideas, or fancy doing me a freebie??? I’d be eternally grateful…

No reviews this week – have several to write up for next week though, so watch this space. Right, life calls. Later, lords and ladies.